Dajuan Coleman had his freshman season cut short due to the surgery he had in late January on his left knee. Entering his sophomore campaign, the 6-foot-9, 288-pound forward is looking to work on his conditioning to crack the Syracuse starting lineup next season.

As Donna Ditota of Syracuse.com reports, in order to regain his starting role Coleman is devoting his summer to basketball, sometimes taking up to half his day. He works out at the Melo Center in Syracuse at 8 a.m. and is combining that with weight lifting sessions. On top of the workouts he is playing in a summer league, and there the improvement is noticeable.

“He’s getting the finesse part of his game going. That’s a lot of what he’s been working on,” Coleman’s brother Dashawn told Syracuse.com. “And defensively, too. His timing. Being in the right spots.

“He’s getting up and down the floor better so he can play more minutes. Basically, that’s it: Better conditioning.”

C.J. Fair led Cuse with 7.0 boards per game. But Brandon Triche, James Southerland and Michael Carter-Williams — the three other top rebounders — are gone. Coleman adds help on the glass and depth on the frontcourt. In only 20 games, Coleman averaged 4.8 points and 4.0 rebounders per game. Jim Boeheim has had a history of big men developing during their careers — Arinze Onuaku, Rick Jackson, Fab Melo — and Coleman’s commitment to the gym looks to put him next in line.

“If you have a good work ethic and you want to get better,” Coleman said. “It’s not that hard.”